After RTFA: "Um, maybe consider making a backup or two and putting them someplace safe?"

After reading Boobies: "Damn. Late again."

When someone in the recording industry says "masters", that reads as "first generation analog tapes". There's no such thing as a backup for analog recordings as each generation is of lesser quality. [highlander]There can be only one[/highlander] master recording. Since he talks about physically moving said masters by hand, I'm gonna guess that's the case here.

And there were some wacky storage solutions for digital recordings back in the day. I remember when the Alesis ADAT came out in the early 90s. 8 digital tracks on SuperVHS for $3995 MSRP. Only way to make true backups was to have a second ADAT.

After RTFA: "Um, maybe consider making a backup or two and putting them someplace safe?"

After reading Boobies: "Damn. Late again."

When someone in the recording industry says "masters", that reads as "first generation analog tapes". There's no such thing as a backup for analog recordings as each generation is of lesser quality. [highlander]There can be only one[/highlander] master recording. Since he talks about physically moving said masters by hand, I'm gonna guess that's the case here.

And there were some wacky storage solutions for digital recordings back in the day. I remember when the Alesis ADAT came out in the early 90s. 8 digital tracks on SuperVHS for $3995 MSRP. Only way to make true backups was to have a second ADAT.

Any analog masters should be digitized and those become the new masters. You won't get any better copies in the future, and in fact, they'll get worse as the original analog medium degrades, so you may as well get it over with. And while you're at it, make some damned digital backups.

After RTFA: "Um, maybe consider making a backup or two and putting them someplace safe?"

After reading Boobies: "Damn. Late again."

When someone in the recording industry says "masters", that reads as "first generation analog tapes". There's no such thing as a backup for analog recordings as each generation is of lesser quality. [highlander]There can be only one[/highlander] master recording. Since he talks about physically moving said masters by hand, I'm gonna guess that's the case here.

And there were some wacky storage solutions for digital recordings back in the day. I remember when the Alesis ADAT came out in the early 90s. 8 digital tracks on SuperVHS for $3995 MSRP. Only way to make true backups was to have a second ADAT.

Any analog masters should be digitized and those become the new masters. You won't get any better copies in the future, and in fact, they'll get worse as the original analog medium degrades, so you may as well get it over with. And while you're at it, make some damned digital backups.

Could someone please explain the concept of "original" to this guy? kthxbai

After RTFA: "Um, maybe consider making a backup or two and putting them someplace safe?"

After reading Boobies: "Damn. Late again."

When someone in the recording industry says "masters", that reads as "first generation analog tapes". There's no such thing as a backup for analog recordings as each generation is of lesser quality. [highlander]There can be only one[/highlander] master recording. Since he talks about physically moving said masters by hand, I'm gonna guess that's the case here.

And there were some wacky storage solutions for digital recordings back in the day. I remember when the Alesis ADAT came out in the early 90s. 8 digital tracks on SuperVHS for $3995 MSRP. Only way to make true backups was to have a second ADAT.

Any analog masters should be digitized and those become the new masters. You won't get any better copies in the future, and in fact, they'll get worse as the original analog medium degrades, so you may as well get it over with. And while you're at it, make some damned digital backups.

Could someone please explain the concept of "original" to this guy? kthxbai

Uhhh, no. He's right. Here's the deal:

1. Analog to digital is going to be as perfect a copy of the master as you can get. For all intents and purposes, it IS the master. From there, you can burn the analog crap to the ground for all I care; there's no point in keeping them.

2. Because the shiat is in analog in the first place, the degradation is already done. The rest of the world, who uses digital, would have to convert to a digital format, if it wasn't converted already (see point #1). This includes all of the GTA games.

3. People need to stop using analog as the SOURCE in the first place. CDs came out out in the 90's and most everybody have been recording in DDD ever since. If 5.66 MHz, 64-bit, 7 speaker Direct Stream Digital sound isn't good enough for you, you are clearly brain damaged.

After RTFA: "Um, maybe consider making a backup or two and putting them someplace safe?"

After reading Boobies: "Damn. Late again."

When someone in the recording industry says "masters", that reads as "first generation analog tapes". There's no such thing as a backup for analog recordings as each generation is of lesser quality. [highlander]There can be only one[/highlander] master recording. Since he talks about physically moving said masters by hand, I'm gonna guess that's the case here.

And there were some wacky storage solutions for digital recordings back in the day. I remember when the Alesis ADAT came out in the early 90s. 8 digital tracks on SuperVHS for $3995 MSRP. Only way to make true backups was to have a second ADAT.

Any analog masters should be digitized and those become the new masters. You won't get any better copies in the future, and in fact, they'll get worse as the original analog medium degrades, so you may as well get it over with. And while you're at it, make some damned digital backups.

Could someone please explain the concept of "original" to this guy? kthxbai

Uhhh, no. He's right. Here's the deal:

1. Analog to digital is going to be as perfect a copy of the master as you can get. For all intents and purposes, it IS the master. From there, you can burn the analog crap to the ground for all I care; there's no point in keeping them.

2. Because the shiat is in analog in the first place, the degradation is already done. The rest of the world, who uses digital, would have to convert to a digital format, if it wasn't converted already (see point #1). This includes all of the GTA games.

3. People need to stop using analog as the SOURCE in the first place. CDs came out out in the 90's and most everybody have been recording in DDD ever since. If 5.66 MHz, 64-bit, 7 speaker Direct Stream Digital sound isn't good enough for you, you are clearly brain damaged ...

Cc this guy, too.

The fact that pristine digital copies exist, does not change the fact that there is only one analog original. Period. The issue isn't whether they would ever go back to it but that it's the farking original.

blue_2501:3. People need to stop using analog as the SOURCE in the first place. CDs came out out in the 90's and most everybody have been recording in DDD ever since. If 5.66 MHz, 64-bit, 7 speaker Direct Stream Digital sound isn't good enough for you, you are clearly brain damaged.

Because, you know, it couldn't be the ears (eardrums, etc) that are damaged....

Gordon Bennett:Why does a Scottish game developer only have its audio recordings backed up in the US?

The audio is produced in the U.S. because the actors are mainly American and Lazlow is Rockstar's director of audio content, which means he's in charge of co-writing and producing most of the spoken background audio: in-game radio/TV programs, commercials, things pedestrians say, etc.

Ever bother to think that maybe Laz has a sentimental attachment to the masters? The games he's been part of have been a big part of gaming history. He's done some great work on the series. It doesn't matter whether or not he should have kept backups or transferred to digital-he probably has done both. If your entire claim to fame is being the guy who wrote the dialogue for the GTA series, you'd probably want to protect your legacy, too.

Nem Wan:Gordon Bennett: Why does a Scottish game developer only have its audio recordings backed up in the US?

The audio is produced in the U.S. because the actors are mainly American and Lazlow is Rockstar's director of audio content, which means he's in charge of co-writing and producing most of the spoken background audio: in-game radio/TV programs, commercials, things pedestrians say, etc.

I apologize in advance for my attempts to threadjack into a masturbatory GTA V wish list.

Better combat (ala Batman)Better cars (the variety and handling of San Andreas, the destruction of GTA IV)Customization (ala Saints Row)A wider variety of gameplay found around the city (ala Assassin's Creed)A more interesting environment that actually encourages driving (which I suspect is the case now)

After RTFA: "Um, maybe consider making a backup or two and putting them someplace safe?"

After reading Boobies: "Damn. Late again."

When someone in the recording industry says "masters", that reads as "first generation analog tapes". There's no such thing as a backup for analog recordings as each generation is of lesser quality. [highlander]There can be only one[/highlander] master recording. Since he talks about physically moving said masters by hand, I'm gonna guess that's the case here.

You could just back them up as digital copies.

But those copies would of course not degrade in the authentic manner, maybe that's a problem as well.

Well, then you'd have "digital backups" and not the "analog master", wouldn't you?

Sigh. It's been commented on twice in the thread already, but clearly people still aren't getting it.

Digitization is a lossy process. Conversion of any format to another is a lossy process. There is only ONE ORIGINAL master recording. Any duplicate (that wasn't an exact duplicate made at the time of the recording) will be missing data.

If I "rip" something from reel-to-reel, vinyl, or any other medium and convert it to a digital format, I have something new, not another copy of the original recording.

Well, then you'd have "digital backups" and not the "analog master", wouldn't you?

Sigh. It's been commented on twice in the thread already, but clearly people still aren't getting it.

Digitization is a lossy process. Conversion of any format to another is a lossy process. There is only ONE ORIGINAL master recording. Any duplicate (that wasn't an exact duplicate made at the time of the recording) will be missing data.

If I "rip" something from reel-to-reel, vinyl, or any other medium and convert it to a digital format, I have something new, not another copy of the original recording.

Yeah, I didn´t think of that.

But if the master recording is deterioating in some manner, then we can easily be in a situation where a digital copy will be closer to what the master recording sounded like when it was freshly recorded.

Obviously the master recording will always fetch X times more on ebay, because it's the master recording, that's how it is.

Well, then you'd have "digital backups" and not the "analog master", wouldn't you?

Sigh. It's been commented on twice in the thread already, but clearly people still aren't getting it.

Digitization is a lossy process. Conversion of any format to another is a lossy process. There is only ONE ORIGINAL master recording. Any duplicate (that wasn't an exact duplicate made at the time of the recording) will be missing data.

If I "rip" something from reel-to-reel, vinyl, or any other medium and convert it to a digital format, I have something new, not another copy of the original recording.

And even if there was no data loss to worry about and the conversion could be made perfectly, there's still the inherent value of having the Original Master versus having a mere copy of the original.

Better combat (ala Batman)Better cars (the variety and handling of San Andreas, the destruction of GTA IV)Customization (ala Saints Row)A wider variety of gameplay found around the city (ala Assassin's Creed)A more interesting environment that actually encourages driving (which I suspect is the case now)